“Religion which requires persecution to sustain, it is of the devil’s propagation” – Hosea Ballou

By Brian Pellot, Charisma News – “Secretary of State John Kerry should cite 16 countries for severe violations of religious freedom, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended Wednesday in its 15th annual report.

The State Department’s ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ list has remained static since 2006, when eight countries — Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan — were designated as CPCs.

USCIRF, an independent watchdog panel created by Congress to review international religious freedom conditions, criticized the government’s…